Mead Johnson Nutrition to pay $12 million to settle bribery charges

(Reuters) — Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. will pay $12.03 million to settle civil charges that it ran afoul of U.S. bribery laws after its China-based unit made improper payments to certain health care professionals at state-owned hospitals, U.S. regulators said Tuesday.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement with the company in an in-house court filing. The SEC said Mead Johnson violated the books and records requirements of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act because it failed to reflect the improper payments on its books or have an adequate system of internal accounting controls.